Do you remember when you were a kid and people would always tell you that you’ll understand and appreciate your parents much more when you’re older? Well people (including my own parents) always told me that and I really hated hearing it. It was during a time in my life when my adolescent self thought I knew everything there was to know in the world and my mom was my mortal enemy. I was convinced it was her sole purpose in life to ruin mine. I mean how dare she “force” me to do after school activities and “force” me to go to Korean language class every SATURDAY morning….didn’t she know I had a very important (13 year old’s) social life?! Ugh, if I didn’t like doing something why wouldn’t she just let me quit after a day? Really mom, no sleepovers unless it’s a special occasion? WHO ARE YOU?!

It’s a funny thing, this growing up business. I graduated high school thinking I can’t WAIT to get away from here (and HER); then I got to college, my mom helped me settle into my dorm, flew home, and I was forced to be somewhat independent. Suddenly all I wanted to do was see my mom, talk to her, get her advice. Once I had settled into college life it’s like all of that “understanding and appreciation” talk came true. I started thanking my lucky stars that I had a mom who always encouraged me to try new things…ice skating? Sure! basketball? Yes, honey! Clay sculpting class? Of course! As long as my sister and I were being productive, she was all for it. How cool. Even today, I kick myself and hate that I didn’t pay better attention during Korean school and that my Korean speaking and understanding abilities are sadly nowhere near where they should be.

Today, I don’t think I can get through the week without daily phone chats with mom about how her grand-pup is doing, the ups and downs of my freelancing work schedule, the latest family gossip, and of course a discussion about her current golf swing status. Never did I think in a million years that my mom would be someone I respect most in the world and one of my best friends (not in the creepy, she’s trying to act too young for her age type of way either). :) She’s such a big part of my overall support system and I love her everyday for it.

My mom’s a bit of a health nut and she loves vegetables and simples flavors, so today I have a dish dedicated to my mama. Simple roasted radishes. Easy, fresh, clean flavors. If you’ve never roasted or cooked with radishes, imagine something similar to a turnip. It’s pretty mild and once roasted the slight bitter taste goes away and produces a subtle sweetness. I hope everyone has a great Mother’s Day this weekend celebrating all the amazing mama’s out there! Enjoy! xx, Jenny

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and toss together. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Spread radishes onto a baking sheet and roast for 20 to 25 minutes or until radishes have crisped and browned around the edges and have become almost fork tender.
4. Lightly adjust seasonings and finish with lemon zest, if desired. Serve.

Ha this is too funny because my mom LOVED to eat radishes raw and I always thought she was crazy! Actually, I still think raw radishes are gross :) But I agree with you on the looking back and being like WHY did you let me quit piano lessons?!?! WHY?!????

Great post about your Mom! How fortunate you realize the gift you have in her. The photos here are gorgeous and the sharpness of them is amazing! Great blog. Will have to try this simple technique you gave us for the radish.

I have a problem with roasting. I feel like I can’t get it quite right. No matter what I do, the edges are burned, the insides are mushy and (my main complaint), I can never get that lovely golden brown color. Not with potatoes, radishes, onion hunks, nothing. Does it sound to you like there’s something obvious that I’m doing wrong here?

Beautiful radishes. The ones I used for a recent fattoush salad were a slightly more oblong with a pronounced pink-white gradient. I love the variations!

So much truth in this post! My Mom was always incredibly compromising when it came to my hobbies and choices, but one thing she never budged on was classical piano lessons—I kicked and screamed back then, but now I don’t regret a single second of it now!

As always, you have delivered an inspiring and heartfelt post which is so appropriate for Mother’s Day! Every year I grow radishes in my garden, but have never thought to roast them. I can’t wait to try this!

I’m going to walk right into my kitchen & make these right now. I’m serious! The photos are beautiful, too. I was going to roast some butternut squash, so I will add some radishes to the mix. Thanks for the inspiration!

That is SUCH a sweet tribute to your omma! I too have experienced the same tendency to loathe and then realize that it’s really love. My (Korean) mother lives very very very far away from me, but we connect over skype regularly and she is SO SO excited about me trying my green fingers at small scale gardening since that is her passion. It beautiful to be able to share that with one’s mom. Thanks!

Wow! I saw these this morning and decided to make them as a side for dinner and oh boy, they’re so delicious!
They’re so simple but roasting them gives them a lovely flavour!
If you have time, could you check out my blog please? Thank you! :)

This is a sensational recipe! Made it for a dinner party last night and it stole the show. It was perfect alongside grilled meat, green beans and risotto. No one had the diner had ever had roasted radishes before and now everyone of us is hooked!

I absolutely love radishes. For years I would only eat them raw in salads. Recently I’ve been trying to eat healthier and have been so excited to try new takes on my favorite veggies. I just recently tried a recipe for pickled radishes that came out wonderful. When I came across this recipe I was super excited. I had never tried any sort of cooked radish. I followed the recipe and they came out wonderfully. The texture is surprisingly similar to that of a potato. The only thing I think I would do differently next time is maybe put some type of dressing or sauce on them to add some extra flavor. Any suggestions on flavors that would go well with radishes?

Thank you for posting this. I have been giving away lovely organic radishes from the co-op because I don’t like the heat of their rawness. DUH! I never thought to roast them to mellow the flavor. I’m going to try some white ones right now.

Someone left rsdishes here after a lunch. Found your recipe. Going to try it for dinner tonight. thanx for reminding me again how much i love my mom. She passed away 7 years ago and your blog just brought back some lovely memories. thank you.

nice thoughts, always the way it goes, great that you have time to show your appreciation to your mom! Thanks for this recipe. I like the idea of radishes so much better than the taste at least in raw form so look forward to trying this tasty looking recipe

Great recipe! I don’t like raw radishes but received some in my CSA box so looked for a way to eat them some other way and discovered this recipe. They were interesting in that they were so much juicier than any other roasted root veg I’ve tried, they almost burst in your mouth, yet have that crispy caramelized outer layer, and all that radish “bite” goes away which was what I was wanting. Don’t be shy with the salt and pepper. Thanks for this!

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